Romney Woos Bloomberg, But So Does Obama

Presumed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney met with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in Manhattan this morning to discuss issues that included gun control laws and immigration policy.

Bloomberg’s press secretary, Stu Loeser, wouldn’t say whether Romney asked for an endorsement at the private session that lasted about 30 minutes at the mayor’s philanthropic foundation in Manhattan.

Bloomberg is a former Democrat who became a Republican to run for mayor in 2001 and 2005, and then became an independent in 2007. He won his third mayoral term running on the Independence Party and Republican Party ballot lines in 2009. He met with Obama for a March 11 lunch at the White House. On April 27, he played golf in the Washington area with Vice President Joe Biden.

Loeser said Bloomberg and Romney discussed issues the mayor has emphasized over the years, including increased efforts to prevent illegal gun sales and less restrictive immigration laws. In his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, Romney has stressed his support for gun rights and taken a tough stance on illegal immigration.

“We need a president who will enforce current laws, not create new ones that only serve to burden lawful gun owners,” Romney said in an April 13 speech at the National Rifle Association’s convention in St Louis.

“The mayor would prefer to keep the substance of the private conversation private,” Loeser said when asked for more details on the meeting.

Romney told reporters he and Bloomberg discussed “a wide array of things,” mostly about the city.

The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

Romney also was appearing today with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at a New York firehouse. The two stopped at a pizza restaurant to bring six pies to the firefighters.